The new electricity tariffs for the country, currently being consulted on, are to come into effect on the first day of January 2012, Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) Sam Amadi has said.

The new tariffs were formerly to be announced in June this year following the working out of all parameters associated with generation, transmission and distribution; however, Amadi, making this disclosure Tuesday at a stakeholder consultation workshop in Abuja on the major review of the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) noted that President Goodluck Jonathan had granted approval for a 2012 implementation to enable further stakeholder consultations.

He said that the Commission was sparing no effort in verifying data supplied by operators to ensure final tariff is fair to all stakeholders, “In this vein, operators will be required to defend the veracity of data submitted. In this way the Commission will promote transparency in the tariff determination process,” the Chairman explained.

Amadi said, “In recognition of the enormous challenge and in furtherance to his commitment to address the challenge of power supply in the country, President Goodluck Jonathan has granted approval that the revised electricity tariffs we expect to emerge from this consultative process take effect on 1st January 2012.

“This will amongst other things enable the Commission engage further with all relevant stakeholders for their understanding and also align the review dates with calendar of most business especially in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and the gas supply sector,” he added.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/news/76-hot-topic/22385-new-electricity-tariffs-to-take-effect-january-2012

A lot of people do not pay light bills in Nigeria.

It appears the yoke on bill paying citizens and businesses is about to get real heavier. If more pple paid light bills there

will be no need to increase tariff

^-- In some places that is true. But consider this Eko Disco: http://www.nigeriaelectricityprivatisation.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2011/01/Eko_Disco_2011_01_11.pdf

99% collection rate, still losing a ton of money.

We have no choice but to increase tariffs to reflect the true cost of providing electricity.

Pennywise:

A lot of people do not pay light bills in Nigeria.

It appears the yoke on bill paying citizens and businesses is about to get real heavier. If more pple paid light bills there

will be no need to increase tariff

Very true. Most of them while complain all day about epileptic power while they refuse to pay for the power they use. If everyone paid their bills there would be no need to increase it higher than the current N10 per unit kw (I believe).

PHCN should share most of the blame in this. Due to internal corruption and largely thanks for casual workers whose main responsibility is to disconnect/reconnect defaulters, the pre-paid meters were not made available to most of the public.

ekt_bear:

^-- In some places that is true. But consider this Eko Disco: http://www.nigeriaelectricityprivatisation.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2011/01/Eko_Disco_2011_01_11.pdf

99% collection rate, still losing a ton of money.

We have no choice but to increase tariffs to reflect the true cost of providing electricity.

99% collection rate in their dreams. These govt officials sit on their butt all day and falsify figures

You cannot pay for what you do not get?

This group seems to be fearing public outcry

The last time a New tariff date was announced it came with the date and price BUT this NERC is announcing a tariff date without announcing the tariff itself

No problem as long as there will be power (light) 24/7

[size=15pt]will there be light 24hrs a day ?[/size]

bigfat02:

[size=15pt]will there be light 24hrs a day ?[/size]

YES!, was told by GEJ just now

my people i can almost say that there wont be any difference because even the bills we are paying now is just too much for d light we never get. This will not work they are lying to their teeth.

what happened to the PREPAID METER they introduced at a time.

what is better is for us to buy our light by owning our own meter. and buying the no. of units we need. there should be no dependence on PHCN for this. if this is done i believe it will be like the communication sector we all enjoy today.

Let it be like the recharge cards we buy that does not have to depend on NITEL for it to work.

I believe these people know that they are playing around the real issue.

ommmmg

I dont think many people will mind paying more, what the people need is constant electricity.

The amount people spend on fueling and maintaining generators is really very high.

Pennywise:

A lot of people do not pay light bills in Nigeria.

It appears the yoke on bill paying citizens and businesses is about to get real heavier. If more pple paid light bills there

will be no need to increase tariff

You are right. A lot of people don't pay light bills. When the privatization is completed, the companies have to account for every watt-hr consumed, they will either cut off those areas that don't pay or they start paying.

The price will eventually come down when proper accountability is achieved.

But for now, let us enjoy this light at all cost provided it is reasonably practicable.

Currently I spend not less than 20k per month running Generator. If the light is stable, I can't spend up to 5k.

Nigeria is getting better, let us say no to spoilers.

More and More delay tactics by the GEJ Administration.


They told us some months ago that the new tariffs will be announced by June. Now they announce that the tariff will take effect in Jan 2012 without telling us what the tariff is. I doubt the tariff will cause any significant change in the electricity situation.

To those like Pennywise that say Nigerians do not want to pay for electricity or do not pay their bills, kindly note that what you said is highly unfair to the average Nigerian struggling to make ends meet. Your statement is based on the false assumption that the bills PHCN bring to residences are representative of the electricity consumed by the users. It is common knowledge that PHCN concocts bills depending on several factors including the appearance of the building, and the supposed status of the inhabitants.

I completely agree with andyanders that before they can ask anyone to pay for electricity, they should give them access to the prepaid meters. This eliminates the issue of PHCN making up fake bills. But it is a slight on the current administration that they have seen no reason to punish the current bosses of PHCN for trying to deprive Nigerians of this right. In fact, it should be mandated that from now on, PHCN should desist from using the analog meters and proceed to only use the prepaid ones.

On another note, all of this is nonsense, unless constitutional amendments are made to allow states and regions supply themselves with power, all this tariff nonsense will not have any effect. The tariff is important, but it does not change the fact that it is not feasible for any independent power project to inject wattage into the "National" grid.

If not for indiscipline and corruption, there would have been no need to privatize our Power Holding Company. It is not always the best for a country to privatize all its institutions. While some may cite the privatization of the Telecommunications sector, we surely do not want to go as far as privatization of our health system so it becomes like America where profit matters most to the Insurance companies and Hospital Managers.

Question now is where do we stop??

hahahaha!!! prof. GEJ in action best president so far! let him keep on dancing while we cont to live in darkness. too much ogogoro no good.

If his dance is still affecting you after 4 days then surely you have taken excess kai kai. Wake up man.

I sincerely hope they put the cart before the horse. How they intend to arrive at tariffs without privatization really beats me. It will be something akin to announcing GSM tariffs in 1998.

I dont mind paying #100,000 for electricity EVERY MONTH, if that is what l have used!

Let me have a Pre-Paid Meter and let me "manage my own cost" myself!
Put me in Prison then, if l fail to pay!

But to think you can impose just any amount on me because "You're Government", ITS A JOKE!

The issue is not about whether Nigerians pay, like to pay or dont pay for electricity. That is arrant nonsense!

What we should all be protesting for, is that the Pre-Paid Meter be made available to those who want it (if you cant make it standard for everyone).
Why are they hiding the Meters?

'Cos it has exposed the "fathom Bills" that they bring every month, light or no-light!

The sad part is that most Nigerians are too dumb and too cowardly, to demand forcefully, for what is rightfully theirs!
Just too dumb set of humans.

BTW: I was out of the country for 6weeks (House was completely empty and Change-Over switch was off Nepa-source, for safety reasons) and yet PHCN brought bill of #38,000 for 4weeks of those six weeks!

Now tell me, is it PHCN GHOSTS that were using electricity in my home, DURING MY ABSENCE? Fecking Rogues!

Thieves is the only word that can accurately describe PHCN or NEPA or whatever body they intend to metamorphose into. If the electricity is available then we will pay. There are months when you rarely use the power for 72hours all through and then we are assaulted with pornographic bills.

Seeing is believing. Supply 24/7 everywhere before you effect new tariffs.

PHCN should just introduce the prepaid meters, and people will gladly pay to use what they can afford. Same scenario applied in Nitel where people were sent bills of N100,000 and above monthly for less usage and yet the company couldn't stay afloat as a monopoly. Getting a NITEL Landline was big wahala, after payment of not less than N250,000. But see the GSM companies raking in Billions from the same business. Nitel was given a free license which other companies paid for, had infrastructure all over the country yet couldn't compete with them.

The PHCN workers use estimated billing system, so even if you don't have power for 6-months you continue receiving bills and all those are counted among the non-bill paying group. The PHCN workers give these bills officially which implies it is on their database. Then a worker will offer to wipe off the amount after you give him say 10-30% of the billed amount. after receiving the cash he just prints out a new bill with less amount but the original amount is still in the database which can't be changed.

mr.official:

Seeing is believing. Supply 24/7 everywhere before you effect new tariffs.

And why would anyone want to invest money in making sure there is 24/7 supply without a profit incentive?

Policy like the one you suggest in bolded will leave Nigeria in darkness.

No new tarriff => no new investment from the private sector

^^ there was a new tarriff in 2007, 3 years progressive increase- no improvement

govt handing over to competent investors is the main thing.

These private investors must be made to provide pre-paid meters first

I am beginning to suspect PHCN as another means just discover for extortion of the masses. I think what should be address first is how money is spent. Especially preventive measure for embezzlement.

Tax should cover some of this cost and there would be no need for increase in tariff.

However, if increasing the tariff will provide us with power. We will pay as we have been doing. But if the system still did not work?

The truth is if the power is available for use, everybody will be ready to pay the bills.
We are not getting value for the money we pay presently. Increasing the tariff without first improving the availability of power to me is not justifiable.

ekt_bear:

And why would anyone want to invest money in making sure there is 24/7 supply without a profit incentive?

Policy like the one you suggest in bolded will leave Nigeria in darkness.

No new tarriff => no new investment from the private sector

Who will pay the new tariff? I believe they will be doomed if they try it without any improvement on supply of electricity.

Peeps, Lets even forget about Tariff increase or 24/7 argument for NOW.

[size=14pt]GET US THE DARN PRE-PAY METER FIRST[/size] AND THEN DO WHATEVER YOU LIKE AFTERWARDS!

Or are these shameless investors and the crooked Government accomplices, afraid of their own "Pre-Pay" Meter?

@ekt

How much do you pay for electricity per month and what is your usage like?